Pilot TV
Empire Magazine
From the creators of The Empire Film Podcast, Pilot TV is your essential guide to every TV show that matters, providing a weekly rundown of all the new must-see TV shows dropping across streaming, terrestrial, satellite, cable, and beyond. Join Empire's James Dyer, Heat's Boyd Hilton, and Kay Ribeiro as they bring you breaking TV news, reviews of the week's major shows, and interviews with some of the biggest names in TV.Pilot TV is here to make sure every minute you spend in front of the box is a minute worth spending. Served with a heavy helping of insider knowledge, irreverence and humour, Pilot TV won't just keep you informed, amused and entertained, but is guaranteed to save countless hours of your life. Because you can’t watch *everything*.Enjoying the podcast? Sign up to Pilot+ for a bonus episode every Thursday, in-depth spoiler specials, and early, ad-free access to the regular show! Find out more at www.empireonline.com/pilottv
Episodes
Mentioned books
Mar 29, 2020 • 1h 13min
#79 - Save Me Too, Tales From The Loop, and Home Before Dark
The magnificent Lennie James returns to our screens (in a bright yellow puffer jacket, naturally) having written a follow-up to 2018's brilliant Save Me. And that's not all, because this week we're also wrangling with the very fabric of existence with Amazon's Tales From The Loop, and keeping print journalism alive with a tween reporter in Apple's Home Before Dark. Plus the team take the current lockdown to heart, prompting an in-depth discussion of TV's best bottle episodes.
Mar 23, 2020 • 1h 25min
#78 - The Mandalorian, Veronica Mars, Hitmen, and Ozark
It's here! The first socially distanced Pilot TV podcast is live, and not only is it business as usual for Pilot TV during the current pandemic but we also see the triumphant return of Terri White as it turns out that isolation and maternity leave are actually quite compatible. On this week's show we *finally* get to review The Mandalorian as Disney + launches here in the UK, and we *at last* get to see the return of Veronica Mars as it makes a belated appearance here as well. Plus we go murderising with Mel and Sue in Sky's Hitmen and catch up with Jason Bateman in Ozark Season 3. All that and enough banter, random police sirens and general nonsense to keep your minds off all things virus-related for an hour and a half. Enjoy!
Mar 16, 2020 • 1h 28min
#77 - Belgravia, The English Game, and Feel Good
It's a Julian Fellowes double-bill this week as we sit down to high tea with some posh socialites in Belgravia and then set about scoring goals against posh footballers in The English Game. And that's all prior to being thoroughly charmed by Mae Martin and Charlotte Ritchie in Feel Good. Don't worry, though, there's plenty of conflict to balance it all out as Boyd goes all Season 8 Daenerys on James over what they've been watching this week and we talk about the best in apocalyptic TV.
Mar 9, 2020 • 1h 45min
#76 - Westworld, Breeders, and Mrs. Fletcher
Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard are our guests this week, stopping by to talk about their parenting comedy Breeders, which features Freeman hurling obscenities at a toddler and calling an alarm clock a c***. We also tackle Sky’s Mrs Fletcher, in which empty nest syndrome collides with hardcore pornography — an incident that unexpectedly spiced up James' commute. And last but by no means least we return to HBO’s Westworld to see whether Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan’s show survives its transition to the real world.
If all that wasn’t enough, this week’s listener question leads to a frankly shocking confession from Pilot’s very own Beth Webb.
Mar 2, 2020 • 1h 25min
#75 - Noughts + Crosses, War Of The Worlds, Liar, and The Trip To Greece
This week's show sees us suiting up for yet another War Of The Worlds, this time in a more contemporary London with Gabriel Byrne on the run from Martian marauders. Plus we explore racial tensions in an alternate reality England with BBC1's Noughts + Crosses, seek nuggets of truth in return of ITV's Liar, and accompany Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan on their latest holiday abroad in The Trip To Greece. Plus we get to hear about Beth's new sideline as a documentarian as she unearths the darker side of streaming services, and Boyd catches us up on what he's been watching, which is apparently everything.
Feb 24, 2020 • 1h 31min
#74 - I'm Not Okay With This, Altered Carbon, and Flesh And Blood. Featuring guest host Rufus Jones
The star and creator of Channel 4's Home, Rufus Jones joins us on the podcast this week, stepping in for James while he's on holiday. And speaking of body swaps, this week sees us review Season 2 of Netflix's now Joel Kinnaman-less sci-fi Altered Carbon, along with John Hughes-inspired high school superhero series I'm Not Okay With This and ITV thriller Flesh & Blood.
Feb 17, 2020 • 1h 19min
#73 - Hunters, Intelligence, and This Country
We’re on the lookout for Nazis with Al Pacino this week with Amazon’s Hunters, plus studying the art of incompetent spycraft with David Schwimmer in Intelligence, and taking a break from the bustle of London for a tongue-in-cheek look at Cotswolds life in BBC mockumentary This Country. All that and you can discover the assortment of shows Boyd's recently been on set of, learn why Beth loves Pontypandy, and find out why James' mum once complained to the BBC about a certain children's show.
Feb 10, 2020 • 1h 11min
#72 - Homeland, Castle Rock, and The End
Join us for a very special podcast this week — Terri's last before heading off on maternity leave. To celebrate the occasion Boyd and James provide some recommendations for post partum viewing, plus we dive head first into the eighth season of Homeland, the second season of Castle Rock and the beginning of Australian euthanasia drama, The End.
Feb 3, 2020 • 1h 31min
#71 - Locke & Key, Home, Baghdad Central, The Pale Horse, and Inside No. 9. Featuring guest host Sarah Phelps
Sarah Phelps joins us as a special celebrity co-host on this week's show to talk everything from her latest Agatha Christie adaptation, The Pale Horse to the joys of Mrs Brown's Boys, by way of Baby Yoda sex toys and the logistics of stormtrooper wanking. Meanwhile, we get stuck into *four* other new shows this week, including Netflix's latest spooky old house series, and the delightful second series of Rufus Jones' immigrant comedy, Home.
Jan 27, 2020 • 1h 40min
#70 - Star Trek: Picard, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Miracle Workers. Featuring Armando Iannucci
Armando Iannucci is our guest on the podcast this week, telling us about his love of Star Trek, the fundamental flaw in Virgin Atlantic, and why he chose to break with terrestrial affairs and write a show set in a flying dildo (35:44-49:17).
Also this week, Boyd explains the secret behind Larry David’s comedy genius as we review Season 10 of Curb Your Enthusiasm and we take a trip to heaven with Daniel Radcliffe and Steve Buscemi in Miracle Workers. Finally, after about 18 months of build-up, James *finally* gets to talk about Star Trek: Picard. Apologies in advance: that bit goes on for a while! 🖖
